Infestation
by CrypticGirl
Summary: A spacecraft has landed at the Ruins of Frozen Light. Stella and Walter are suddenly back from the dead, and some of the party members begin to act strangely. Coincidence? Shirley doesn't think so.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: ToL does not belong to me, yadda yadda.

**Author's Note**: I've always wanted to do a story with Stella, but I was never good with flashbacks or the like. So why not try something new? The Stella here may not be the same person she was when she was alive...since technically, the real Stella is still dead.

Also, I was really hoping to finish the Heat Wave story first, but this one seems more vivid in my mind right now.

--

Chapter 1

Senel and Shirley stood in the front yard of Senel's house, both breathing heavily.

"Are you tired, Shirley?" Senel asked. "We can stop if you want."

"No...I'm fine," Shirley insisted. "Let's keep going, Senel. I don't want to give up until I get this right."

"All right, here goes. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Rahh!" Senel roared as he pounced on Shirley, attempting to strangle her. Shirley wrestled hard aginst his hold.

"C'mon, Shirley...just like I showed you..." Senel grunted. "Put your foot...on my knee...and then..."

In her struggles, Shirley lifted her right foot, planting it on Senel's knee. But as she lifted herself up, her foot flipped, and she collapsed to the ground, pulling Senel down with her. Shirley hit the ground on her back, while Senel fell across her body. They both remained there for a moment to catch their breath.

Moses and Norma walked down the street, catching Senel and Shirley in their awkward position.

"Eeuw, in the front yard!" Norma squealed. "Of all places!"

"Y'all got it goin' on, don'tcha?" Moses grinned.

"You idiots..." Senel growled as he and Shirley pulled themselves to their feet. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it?" Norma asked.

"I'm trying to teach Shirley this self-defense move, but she's having trouble with it."

"I'll get it right someday," Shirley added. "I swear I'll get it right."

"Moses, come here," Senel said.

Moses moved in front of him. "What's up, Senel?"

"I want you to strangle me."

Moses raised an eye. "What for?"

"Just do it."

Moses shrugged. "If ya say so. Ahh!"

The bandit rushed in and began to strangle Senel.

"Now...watch closely, Shirley!" Senel called out.

He planted his right foot on Moses' knee, then lifted himself up, kicking the bandit in the face with his left foot.

"Gahh!" Moses cried out as he fell to the ground, while Senel landed on his feet. "What in the hell was that for!?"

"I told you, I'm trying to teach Shirley this move," Senel told him.

"Okay, Senel, let's try it one more time," Shirley said.

"Okay, you ready? Ha!"

Senel lunged again, grabbing Shirley violently. Shirley once again struggled, attempting to perform the move.

"Go, Shirl, go!" Norma cheered. "Sock it to him, sock it to him!"

"Yeehaw!" Moses cheered as well.

This time, however, Shirley missed Senel's leg entirely, causing her to lose her balance, and they both fell to the ground again.

"Well, that's one way of doing it..." Norma remarked.

Senel and Shirley stood up with a sigh.

"Shirley...we'll have to practice again later," Senel said. "I'm wiped out."

"Me, too," Shirley admitted. "I'll see you later. Thanks for teaching me that move, Senel. I know I'll get it right someday."

They parted ways, walking down the road in opposite directions. Norma and Moses shrugged, and then parted ways as well.

Senel followed the path all the way to the western part of the city, where Stella's final resting place was located. Upon arriving there, all he noticed was the large gaping hole right in front of Stella's tombstone.

"Stella!?" Senel peeked into the hole, only to find it completely empty. He then hopped down into the grave, and began to dig into the dirt with his hands.

"This can't be happening!" he cried out. "STELLAAAAAA!!"

He continued to dig into the grave, hoping that Stella's coffin was still in there somewhere. But he was making very little progress.

"Senny!" Norma's voice called from above.

Senel turned around and looked up at her. Norma frowned as she looked down at the Alliance Marine standing in the pit.

"Senny, what are you doing in there?" she asked.

"I just came to visit Stella's grave," Senel said.

"Look, Senny, I know you miss her, but you didn't have to dig up her grave."

"I didn't do it! It was already dug up when I got here!"

"Really? Is she still in there?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Senel said as he dug through the dirt again.

Norma scratched her head. "That's a silly answer. Of course she's still in there. She's still dead, right?"

Senel stood up straight again. "Well...yeah, but...someone must have dug up her body. Who would do something like this!? And why!?"

Norma shrugged. "Got me."

"Senel," a deep, familiar voice called.

Senel looked up to see the other party members gathering around Norma.

"What the hell!?" Moses exclaimed upon seeing the empty grave. "Senel, what're ya doin' in your girlfriend's grave?"

Shirley moved around, kneeling down beside the hole. "Stella's gone. Did someone take her?"

"They must have," Senel told her, as he began to dig with his fingers again. "She's not in here!"

"Senel, perhaps a shovel would be more effective," Jay said.

Senel turned to face him, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah, perhaps..."

Norma looked around at the group. "Hey Teach...why are you guys here?"

"I just received a letter from Maurits," Will said. "He wants to talk to us at the Ferines village."

Senel looked up at the sky, which was turning dark. "Now? It's kind of late."

"It's only a short meeting," Will told him. "It shouldn't take too long. By the way, why are you here, Norma?"

"Well, I came here because I heard Senny scream," Norma said.

"I didn't scream," Senel protested.

"Yeah, you did. You said, 'STELLAAAAAA!!"

"You sure love to scream that gal's name, don't cha?" Moses asked.

"But that was...I was just..." Senel stammered.

"Ha ha ha!" Moses let out his usual goofy laugh. "I love it when ya blush."

"Moses! Don't make me pound you!"

"Here." Jay reached out towards Senel. "Let me help you out of there, and you can pound him all you like."

"Hmph! Oh yeah!?" Moses gave Jay a rough shove, knocking him down into the grave. "That'll teach ya, ya punk!"

"That's enough," Will said. "Let's hurry to the Ferines village before it gets any later."

Jay pulled out his dagger and jammed it into the grave's walls, then used it to climb out. Senel followed, also using the dagger as a step. Once they were out, Jay pulled the dagger from the grave. Afterwards, the group left the graveyard.

--

The party took the duct to the Ferines village. They watched the sky as they entered; the moon illuminated the village with its brilliant glow.

Thyra came out of her house and approached the group. "Merines...what are you all doing here so late?"

"Well...Maurits called for us," Shirley said. "Don't you know?"

"No...no one told me."

"Oh, Shirley!" Maurits called as he emerged from his meeting room. "I truly appreciate you all coming out at this hour on such short notice."

"So, to what do we owe this honor?" Will asked.

"Come in and makes yourselves comfortable, and I'll explain."

The party exchanged nervous glances as they followed Maurits into the meeting room. They all sat around the table, while Maurits sat in the center. Thyra followed the party, moving to stand beside Maurits.

"So, what is it, Maurits?" Senel asked.

"We've received numerous reports today," Maurits explained, "that a mysterious spacecraft has landed at the Ruins of Frozen Light."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"A spacecraft?" Moses asked. "Ya mean like a flyin' saucer?"

"Something like that," Maurits said. "I don't know what it looks like, as I haven't seen it with my own eyes."

"A spacecraft..." Thyra muttered. "Is that dangerous?"

"We don't know that yet. We don't even know if there is any life on board."

"There has to be life on board," Jay said. "Someone...or something must have landed that spacecraft. It sure can't land on its own."

"And I assume you want us to investigate?" Will asked.

"That's correct," Maurits told him, "but you don't have to do it right now. You can wait until morning if you wish."

"Yes...we'll do that. Thank you."

"I wonder if that has anything to do with Stella's body missing?" Norma said out of nowhere.

Maurits gave her a look. "Stella's body is missing?"

"Yeah..." Senel lowered his head. "We found her grave dug up this evening, right before we got your message."

"Why would you think that the spacecraft has something to do with it?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, I don't know..." Norma said. "Maybe it's just like that time when Stella was in tune with the Legacy? Maybe she's in tune with that spacecraft now."

"That's ridiculous!" Senel snapped. "Stella was alive back then! There's no way she can be in tune with anything right now!"

"Well...maybe whatever's on that spacecraft wants to use Stella's body to take over the world?"

"Why the hell would they do that!?"

"I don't know! Chill out, Senny!"

"Yeah, Senel, take a chill pill," Moses added.

Will let out an exasperated sigh. "All right, everyone. We'll head for the Ruins of Frozen Light in the morning. Right now, let's go home and get some sleep."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After leaving the Ferines village, the party returned to Werites Beacon by duct. They started to walk across the bridge into the town, but paused when they spotted a figure standing in the center of the road. It was a woman with blonde hair, tied in a bun on the left side of her head. She held her arms out, as her clothing blew softly in the wind. The party stared at her with wide eyes as they instantly recognized her.

"What the!?" Moses gasped.

Senel and Shirley moved closer to make sure they were seeing correctly.

"Stella!" Senel cried out.

Stella continued to hold her arms out. "Senel...my love..."

Senel moved even closer, carefully taking her hands, feeling the warmth of her skin. The other party members moved a little closer, but still kept a safe distance.

Senel embraced Stella tightly, fondling her hair. "Stella! It really is you!"

"Oh Senel..." Stella stroked Senel's hair as well. "How I've longed for you and this moment."

"Stella...why are you here?" Shirley asked. "I thought you were..."

"Nerifes decided to grant me another life," Stella told her.

Shirley gasped softly. "Nerifes can do that?"

"Nerifes can do anything. You agree, don't you, Shirley?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"By the way..." Stella cut her off. "There's someone else who has been resurrected by Nerifes."

She stepped aside, revealing a young Ferines man who was standing behind her. The party recognized him just as easily.

"Wally!" Norma cried.

"Son of a bitch..." Moses mumbled. "It's like we're lookin' at ghosts..."

Walter approached Shirley, bowing his head. "It's good to see you again, Merines. I would be honored to serve and protect you once again."

"Walter...that..." Shirley stammered, still not believing that he was really there. "That won't be necessary. I...I really don't want any royal treatment. I just want to be treated like a normal person. Please understand."

Walter nodded. "As you wish, Merines."

"He's...gonna eat us!" Norma whined.

Walter shot her a look, and then began to advance.

"Ah!" Norma leaped into Moses' arms.

"Ah!" Moses immediately dropped her, and then cowered behind her as she stood up.

"I am not a ghost!" Walter snapped. "I am not dead! Now be quiet!"

Norma and Moses fell silent.

"She actually got quiet..." Chloe whispered.

"Senel..." Stella said softly. "I've never really seen the Legacy before. Would you show me around?"

Senel scratched his head. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to show you around the city real quick. But we have to check out the Ruins of Frozen Light in the morning."

"Thank you so much." Stella gently took Senel's arm, and the pair began to walk down the road.

"He's going with her alone..." Chloe thought.

"Well, this certainly complicates things," Jay said.

"Jay, do you know something?" Will asked.

"Not really, just a wild guess," Jay told him. "Perhaps the ruins will yield some answers."

Norma stomped her foot. "There's no way we're letting anyone else rise from the dead! I say we take turns standing guard in the graveyard!"

"Is that really necessary?" Chloe asked. "Stella may be back, but it's not like she's doing any harm."

"Of course it's necessary!" Norma cried. "People coming back from the dead? That's just wrong!"

"Just give her a chance, Norma."

"You!" Walter snapped. "How dare you say such things!"

"Ah!" Norma cowered again. "But...but..."

"You Orerines haven't changed a bit, have you!?"

"Walter, please stop!" Shirley protested. "Senel and the others are my dear friends! Please stop talking about Orerines this way!"

"Merines..." Walter was instantly tamed.

"Listen...we're all on a mission," Shirley continued. "I'll...I'll show you around the town, and I'll explain everything."

Walter hesitated for a moment. "Very well, Merines. Tell me everything."

"Okay, follow me." Shirley began to walk down the road, with Walter in tow.

"And now they go and leave us all alone..." Moses grumbled. "Hey Jay, don't this make ya wanna..."

"No," Jay cut him off. "We don't have time to screw around. I'm going home to get some sleep. You should do the same if you don't want your brain to poop out on you."

"Hey!" Moses protested.

Jay ignored him as he walked in the opposite direction, leaving the city.

"So..." Chloe said, changing the subject. "We'll meet at Raynard's house in the morning?"

"Yes," Will agreed. "Goodnight, everyone. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Goodnight," Chloe said.

She and Will began to walk down the road, leaving Norma and Moses alone.

"All right, Red, you take the first watch in the graveyard," Norma said. "I'll take over in about four hours."

"Four hours!?" Moses cried.

"Well, this cute girl needs her beauty sleep, too!"

"But I need some sleep, too! I don't want my brain to poop out!"

"Just take the first watch, Red. You can get your sleep when I take over."

"Oh, fine."

--

When Moses arrived at the graveyard, he stood right into Stella's empty grave. He then looked at the tombstone at the head of it. It felt odd for him, knowing that the message on the stone no longer applied.

"Strange, isn't it?" a voice asked softly.

"Huh? Wha...?" Moses looked around, until he spotted Stella standing behind him.

"It's so strange, staring at your own grave," she added.

"Oh...yeah, I know what ya mean," Moses replied. "I mean...I ain't never been dead before, but..."

"Hmm..." Stella smiled.

"Hey, what're ya doin' here? I thought you were with Senel."

"Well, Senel needs his rest for the mission tomorrow. It's a shame...if we'd had more time, we could have..."

"Could have what?"

Stella shook her head. "Nothing...we could always do it some other time."

"So what're ya doin' here anyway? Didja come to bury yerself again?"

"Ah, no..." Stella kept a laugh in. "You are a very funny man."

"Funny? Is that bad?" Moses asked.

"No, it's good. Our peoples have been at war for so long...it's a shame that the Ferines miss so many charming qualities of the Orerines...like your humor, for instance."

"So ya really think I'm funny? And not stupid?"

"No, you're not stupid," Stella assured him. "You just have intimacy issues, and you use your humor to keep people at a distance."

Moses paused, confusion setting in. "Huh...I never thought of that before..."

"Hmm...your name is Moses, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Moses."

"Is there someone...that you fancy?"

Moses turned around and looked up at the sky. "Well...there's Grune...but I never got too far with her. And then there's Jay...but sometimes he just gives me hell..."

Stella smiled behind him, and then shoved him lightly in the back. Moses let out a shriek as he fell into the mouth of the grave.

"Ow! What the hell!?" he cried.

Stella knelt down beside the grave. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you all right?"

"Huh? Well, I guess."

Stella hopped down into the grave. "Here, I'll make it up to you."

"Naw, ya don't need to do that..."

"Sure I do. It was so foolish of me to do that. Besides, this might help with your...intimacy issues."

"But do we haveta stay down here? It's kinda creepy down here..."

Stella placed her hands firmly on the bandit's chest, pushing him against the wall. She then took hold of his wrists, placing his hands on her rear.

Moses' eyes widened. "O-okay..."

Stella moved her hands up Moses' arms, letting her fingers crawl up his skin, before placing her hands on his cheeks. With her thumbs, she began to play with his lips, stretching them out, and persuading the bandit to open his mouth. Slowly moving closer, Stella parted her own lips, pressing her mouth firmly onto the bandit's.

Seconds later, Moses' eyes widened again. "Mmm-mmmph! Mmmph!" He began to struggle, trying to push the woman away, trying to pry off her hands that held his head so tightly, and grabbing her hair.

Stella finally released him and took a step back. Moses clutched his stomach and slumped over, coughing and gagging, spitting out some blood. He fell backwards against the wall, sinking down to his rear; his head slumped forward as he lost consciousness.

Stella looked down at him innocently. "That takes care of that. Don't worry, you'll feel better when you wake up."

--

Four hours later, Norma arrived in the graveyard to take her watch. She looked around for Moses, but there was no sign of him. At least not yet.

"Red?" Norma moved deeper into the graveyard, peeking into Stella's grave. There, she saw Moses still sitting against the wall with his head slumped over. Had she seen him from a lower angle, she would have seen the blood trickling from the bandit's mouth.

"Sleeping on the job?" she taunted. "Ha...wimp!"

She walked farther into the graveyard, to the other side, where her mentor was buried. She knelt down in front of the tombstone and sighed.

"Oh Teacher...with all of these people that are coming back from the dead, why can't you be one of them?"

Sensing a presence nearby, Norma spun around, pulling out her straw and setting herself in her battle stance. "Who goes there!? You'd better come out, or I'll blow your socks off!"

Walter entered the graveyard, walking rather slowly and casually. He walked straight to Norma without a single word or gesture, his face expressionless.

"W-W-Wally!?" Norma gasped. "Wh...what are you doing here? Have you...have you had a change of heart?"

"No..." Walter replied. "My hatred for Orerines will never change. However, the Merines wishes for our peoples to live together in peace. I personally hate the idea, but the Merines must follow her heart. And I will follow her, wherever that may lead."

"Well, isn't that nice. And you came all the way out here to see little old me? I'm flattered."

"The Merines suggested that I interact with the Orerines to get acquainted with them. And you're the only Orerines who's awake at this hour."

"Really? I'm the only Orerines that's awake? That's kinda scary. Say Wally...has anyone ever told you how handsome you are?"

Walter looked away slightly, seemingly taken aback. "Well...probably."

"And what about me?" Norma asked, batting her eyes. "Do you think I'm cute?"

"No."

"Hey! At least pretend to think about the question before you answer it!"

"Hmm, if you insist."

Walter slowly moved closer, placing his finger under her chin. Norma pulled back slightly. Walter persisted, still moving closer with his finger under her chin. Looking into his charming blue eyes, Norma felt herself drawn to the Ferines youth. She parted her lips as Walter moved in, kissing her softly on the lips. When he placed his hands gently but firmly on either side of her head, Norma's eyes shot wide open.

"Mmmph!!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning, Harriet came out of her room and went downstairs. Will was sitting in the living room sofa, simply smiling to himself.

"Good morning, Dad," Harriet said.

"Good morning, Harriet," Will responded, still lost in his daydreams.

Harriet walked up to him, noting the off look in his face. "And what are you so happy about?"

"Hmm? Oh..." Will seemed to snap out of his trance. "I'm just waiting for the others to get here."

"I see. Going to hunt some more rare monsters?"

"Well, not exactly. We've gotten some reports of a spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light, and we're going to investigate it."

"Oh, I get it. There's no telling what kind of rare monsters you'll find in there, huh?"

"Indeed..." Will smiled as he seemed to drift off again.

"Hey, I know just what you need!" Harriet dashed into the kitchen.

At that moment, Senel came into the house. "Good morning, Will."

"Good morning..." Will replied, still daydreaming.

Senel moved in front of him, studying his facial expression. "Uh-oh, you've got that monster maniac look on you..."

"Indeed..."

"He sure does," Harriet added, returning with a stack of notebooks and setting them on the table. "Here you go, Dad; here's your notebooks. And I'll be right back."

As she headed back into the kitchen, Senel looked at Will again.

"So Will, did you find out anything more about that spacecraft?"

"Not a thing..." Will replied, his mind still absent.

"Will..." Senel reached out, snapping his fingers in front of Will's face. "Snap out of it!"

"What? Oh!" Will shook his head. "Sorry...I suppose I am excited about this investigation."

Harriet returned yet again, this time with two cups of coffee. "Here you go, Dad. This'll wake you up. And I made a cup for you too, Senel."

Senel took the cup reluctantly. "Are you sure this is any good?"

"Of course it's good! It was made by me!" Harriet told him. "My cooking is getting better every day!"

Will shot Senel a silent glare.

"Oh, you're right!" Senel said, intimidated by that glare. "Of course you're getting better! And since you're on a roll, do you think you can whip up an omelet or something?"

"Okay!" Harriet skipped into the kitchen again.

Will and Senel took a sip of the coffee, and their faces instantly grimaced.

"On second thought, we're really not that hungry..." Senel called as he and Will poured the rest of the coffee into the plant in the center of the table.

The front door opened again, and this time Chloe, Jay, Grune, and Shirley walked in. Will and Senel now stood up.

"All right, is everyone ready to go?" Will asked.

The group nodded silently.

"Wait a minute," Senel interrupted. "We're still missing Norma and Moses."

Will gave an exasperated sigh. "All right, I guess we'll wait a few minutes for them to arrive."

Only half a minute passed before Norma arrived, entering the house casually. She only looked down in front of her, with no expressions on her face.

"Oh, Norma's here," Grune gushed. "I wonder where Moses is?"

"Norma, have you seen him?" Senel asked.

Norma stared down at the floor for another moment before giving Senel a look. "No..."

"Well, we'll wait for him just a little longer," Will said. "If he doesn't show up, we'll just go on without him."

"Personally, I wouldn't mind that at all," Jay remarked.

"There's no big hurry to get there, so I think we can afford to wait," Chloe said.

"But we don't know how dangerous this thing is," Senel pointed out.

"I wonder what we'll find in this spacecraft?" Shirley asked.

"Rare monsters, of course," Harriet said. "Right, Dad?"

"We don't know that, Harriet," Will told her.

"Wow...I wish I could go to the Ruins of Frozen Light, too."

"But don't you have school today?"

"Yeah...I guess I'd better get going, or I'll be late. See you later, guys." Harriet took her backpack from the bookshelf and left the house.

A moment of silence passed as the group stood in the room, patiently waiting for the bandit to arrive. Norma stared at the floor for another moment before looking up at each of her comrades. A slight smile flashed across her face as she looked down again.

"Oh my..." Grune clasped her hands together. "Maybe we'll get to go into outer space. That'll be so much fun, wouldn't it?"

Norma looked at her from the corner of her eye. "Yeah...it would," she said in a low voice.

The party shot her a look, as they didn't quite recognize her tone.

"Norma, are you feeling all right?" Will asked.

Norma stared at the floor again, before looking up at the historian. "I'm fine, Teach. In fact, I've never felt better."

"She's probably plotting some mischief as always," Jay said.

"Yeah...that's exactly it," Norma said.

Will shrugged. "Well, it doesn't look like Moses is coming, so we'll go ahead and head out. Let's go, everyone."

"Hmm...I wonder what's keeping Moses?" Grune pondered.

"He's always late," Senel said.

Jay shook his head and shrugged. "Well, it's his loss."

Senel, Will, and Chloe turned and left the house. Norma finally looked up and turned to Grune. Stepping right in front of her, Norma grabbed the back of Grune's neck, pressing her mouth firmly onto Grune's. Jay and Shirley exchanged a confused glance.

Norma held the kiss without a single motion. Grune's eyes opened wide as her body became paralyzed. After another moment, Norma slowly pulled back, releasing Grune, who slowly put her hands to her stomach, lowering her head as her face squinted in pain.

"I'm going to look for Red," Norma said in the same low voice. "We'll meet you at the ruins."

"Okay, I'll go tell the others." Shirley went past them and left the house.

"Why would you want to look for Moses?" Jay asked. "He's just a pig."

Norma shot him a look. "Maybe I'm in the mood for pork today. In fact, I'm in the mood for all sorts of things."

Flashing him a smile, Norma turned and casually left the house.

"I don't believe this..." Jay muttered to himself.

Grune slowly raised her head, turning to Jay with a sweet smile. Somehow, Jay couldn't help the feeling that there was something peculiar about that smile.

"Uh...w-we'd better hurry!" he stammered as he ran past Grune, leaving the house to catch up with the others.

--

When Senel, Shirley, Will, Chloe, and Jay arrived at the Ruins of Frozen Light, they looked up at the huge silver saucer sitting on top of the complex.

"Wow...that's pretty big," Senel remarked.

"This is great..." Will cooed. "I'd better jot down my notes at once. Wait'll we encounter all of the alien lifeforms inside that thing."

"Disgusting alien lifeforms, for sure," Chloe muttered.

"We won't even know what to do when we find these lifeforms," Shirley said.

"I can capture one and take it back with us," Will said. "I can study it from there."

"How do we get inside the spacecraft?" Shirley asked.

The group paused as they looked up at the cliff.

"We can't climb up from here," Will said. "There might be a way into the spacecraft inside the ruins."

The others nodded in agreement.

Chloe looked around, realizing that some of the party members were missing. "Guys...what happened to Norma and Grune?"

"Norma said she was going to get Moses and then meet us here," Shirley told her. "I guess Grune went with her."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Was that really necessary?"

"Of course, Moses is one of us," Senel said. "We really should do these things together – all of us."

"Oh, that's right...Moses is our decoy," Jay added. "Whatever would we do without him?"

"Well, they'll either show up, or they won't," Will said. "Let's go on inside."

The group nodded and began to enter the ruins. They walked through the long blue corridors of the Frozen Light Ruins, but saw nothing at all. That was odd all by itself, as there were normally monsters lurking about.

"This whole place looks completely deserted," Senel said. "It's almost scarier than when the monsters were here."

"I wonder what happened to them?" Chloe said.

"Maybe..." Will began to ponder as he slowly looked around. He turned his body slowly, until he glanced at the party members...including the three who had been missing when they arrived at the entrance. "Well, there you all are!"

The others turned, also surprised to see Moses, Norma, and Grune standing behind them, as if they had appeared from nowhere.

"Well, I see you finally decided to join us," Chloe said.

"Where'd you guys come from?" Senel asked.

Moses and Grune stood still, their eyes looking away.

"Oh...somewhere," Norma said flatly.

The others looked at her for a moment, before restoring their attention to Will.

"So Will, you were saying?" Senel asked.

Will shook his head. "Never mind. Throwing around guesses won't solve anything. Let's move on."

The others nodded, but Norma, Moses, and Grune kept their heads down with the nod. As the party began to move deeper into the ruins, the trio raised their heads and silently began to follow. Walking down the corridors again, Moses, Norma, and Grune trailed several feet behind the others, blankly staring in incoherent directions.

The party stepped into yet another room, which brought back some painful memories for both Senel and Shirley. This was the room where they had discovered that Stella was still alive, after believing that she had been dead for three years. But that wasn't important anymore. After all, Stella was still alive...right?

"We've searched almost the entire ruin, and we haven't even seen a single monster," Chloe said with a sigh.

"Maybe they're all in the spacecraft?" Shirley suggested.

"But how did they get in there?" Jay asked.

Will pointed to a door to the left of the chamber where they had originally found Stella on the Legacy. "There's one more room we haven't searched yet."

"Got it, let's go," Senel said.

Moses, Norma, and Grune started to follow as the party walked towards the last room, but then paused. They waited for the others to leave the room before facing each other with a nod. Turning to their right, they walked across the room, where a camoflauged door slowly came into view. The door slid open, and the three stepped through into a room with two large blue cylinders on either side, which extended from the floor to the ceiling. Stella and Walter stood in the center of the room as the three approached them.

Pulling out a blue marker, Stella knelt down, slowly drawing a pattern on the floor. It was a single star pattern, and when she was done, Stella looked up, giving each and every one of them a casual glance, but not a single word. Then the five of them – Stella, Walter, Norma, Moses, and Grune – stood at each corner of the star pattern, turning their backs to the center. Then they closed their eyes...

The other heroes stepped into the last room, which was only empty, with computer terminals lined up along the walls.

"Well, guys, it looks like we've reached a dead end," Senel said.

"So there's no path into the spacecraft at all," Chloe added.

Will studied the computer terminals, reaching out to press some buttons, but then thought better of it. "I'd better not mess with this."

"So what do we do now?" Shirley asked.

"It appears that there's nothing we can do," Jay said. "We can't seem to get into the spacecraft from in here. The only way would be to find some way on top of the cliff outside."

"But does anyone know how to fly?" Senel asked. "Shirley?"

"I can't fly, but..." Shirley paused for a moment, and then lit up. "Walter!"

"Hmm, you're right," Will said, recalling how they first referred to Walter as the "flying man."

"He had those black wing things," Senel added.

"Walter's true name was Delques – 'Black Wings,'" Shirley told him. "If we ask him, he'll surely look into this for us."

"He'll do it for you," Jay pointed out. "He won't do it for us."

"So it's settled then," Senel said, before thinking, _As much as I hate the idea..._

"Well, there's no reason to stay here any longer," Will said. "Let's head back."

"Hey..." Chloe said out of nowhere. "What happened to Norma, Grune, and Sandor?"

The party looked around, realizing that the three went missing again.

"They disappeared again!?" Senel snapped. "First they're not here...and then they just appear out of nowhere, and then they disappear again!? Are we losing our minds!?"

"Settle down," Will told him. "They're probably exploring elsewhere...or getting into some mischief."

"Or they chickened out," Jay spat.

"I can't imagine Grune chickening out..." Shirley said softly.

Will led the group back into the previous room, but the other three members where nowhere to be found.

"They're not in here either," Chloe said.

"They probably left already," Senel said.

"I don't think so," Jay told them. "I can sense them somewhere...hiding."

Senel looked around, but saw nothing. "Norma! Moses! Come out; this isn't the time for games!"

"Never mind," Will said. "There are no monsters here, so they should be fine. Let's go."

"Those three always have to have the last laugh," Jay remarked as the others began to leave. "I wish I could see how hard they're laughing when they come out and find us all gone."

Shirley stopped next to him. "But we can't just leave them here..."

Jay gave her a look. "And why not? They came here on their own, did they not? Well, they can get their butts home; I'm leaving."

As he followed the others, Shirley paused and looked at the side wall. Slowly approaching it, she gently ran her hand across it. She then realized that the others were on the verge of leaving her behind.

"Hey guys, wait for me!" she called out as she ran to catch up with them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The five party members returned to Werites Beacon. The sun was still high in the sky as it was still midday. There was still a whole day to live.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that spacecraft right now," Will said. "So all we can do is just go on with our day."

"Thanks, Will," Senel said. "I'll head to the graveyard."

"I'm feeling a little tired, so I'm going to take a little nap," Shirley said.

"You're still going to ask Walter about the saucer, right?" Chloe asked.

"Yes...but there's no emergency, right?"

"Of course you're right. Well, I guess I'll take a short nap myself."

Senel, Shirley, and Chloe began to walk down the road, soon parting ways. Will said nothing, but went into his house, leaving Jay alone in the road.

"I don't want to go back to the Oresoren village just yet," Jay told himself. "I guess I'll stop and relax for a while."

Therefore, he decided to rest at the inn.

Only moments later, Norma, Moses, and Grune crossed the bridge into the city. They stopped in the middle of the road and looked around for a moment. Finally, they decided to go into the bar.

--

Shirley lay in her bed, only half asleep. The whole situation with Stella and Walter was engraved deep into her mind. Her left arm hung over the edge of the bed, holding what was left of her brooch after the stone inside it ad shattered. As her body twitched in her sleep, she dropped the brooch to the floor.

A shadow of a figure slowly approached the bed, picking up the brooch along the way. As the shadow fell over Shirley's face, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Lose something?" Grune asked in a sultry voice.

Shirley sat up slowly, her eyes open nearly wide enough for her eyeballs to fall out of their sockets. Grune stood beside the bed, wearing her green veil...but that was all she was wearing. Shirley tried her hardest to keep her gaze only on Grune's face, but it wasn't easy.

_Why...is she standing in front of me naked?_ she thought in horror.

Grune only smiled her eerily innocent smile. Shirley didn't like where this was headed at all. She didn't know what Grune was intending, but knew that she had to get out of there.

"I...I, uh..." Shirley stammered as she stumbled out of the bed. "I have something to...take care of. Thanks for waking me, Grune..."

"A pleasure..." Grune responded simply.

Shirley continued to stumble out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her, and then crashed into Chloe.

"Whoa, watch out!" Chloe exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

Shirley looked up at her, her face souring as if she were about to cry. Instead, she turned and fled into the bathroom. Chloe started to follow, but immediately stopped herself upon hearing the sound of Shirley vomiting. Chloe waited patiently, while fighting her own urge to vomit. Then she let out a relieved sigh when she heard the toilet flush. Shirley came out of the bathroom, her face completely blank.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked again.

Shirley took in a shaky breath, then exhaled. "I'm fine. I'm gonna go look for Walter now."

"Well, at least let me come with you."

--

After searching around the town, Shirley and Chloe eventually found Walter at the bar beneath the inn. He sat on a bench with Norma and Grune. Norma rested her head on Grune's shoulder, while Grune was tracing some unknown patterns in Norma's palm with her finger. Walter sat next to them, watching the pattern carefully. Shirley paused, not wanting to move any closer to Grune. She didn't want to admit it, but that unexpected "encounter" with Grune still had her quite shaken.

"W...Walter..." Shirley called, trying to keep her voice firm but failing miserably.

Grune stopped what she was doing, perking up. Norma opened her eyes, but still kept her head on Grune's shoulder. Walter straightened himself for a moment, then stood up and went to Shirley.

"Yes, Merines?"

"I have a favor...a small favor...to ask," Shirley went on. "There's a spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light, and I was wondering if you could...fly up to it and see what's inside. Like any monsters, or any other signs of life. You can do it at your...earliest convenience, seeing as you're busy right now."

Walter nodded. "Of course, Merines."

"Th...thank you."

Walter returned to the table and sat down, where Grune resumed tracing the patterns in Norma's palm.

_Even Walter sounds different..._ Shirley thought as she watched them for a moment. _I wonder what they're doing...?_

Chloe moved next to Shirley. "Well?"

"He says he'll do it...whenever he's ready," Shirley told her. Still wondering what Norma and Grune were doing, she added, "I'm going to sit down for a while."

"All right. I'll be right back; I need to use the ladies' room." Chloe went to the back of the bar and into the ladies' room.

Shirley slowly moved towards the counter, still watching Norma and Grune. Then in the background, she spotted Jay entering the bar. Moses also entered the bar a good distance behind him.

Jay walked across the room, stopping to stare at Norma, Grune, and Walter for a brief moment, raising an eye. He then shook off his confusion before moving to the counter next to Shirley.

"Hey, Jay..." she greeted him. "Um...any news?"

"Not a thing," Jay replied flatly.

Chloe stepped out of the ladies' room, drying her hands with a rag. She started to join Shirley at the counter, but stopped as she saw Moses walking up to Jay from behind. She just knew that another Moses/Jay tongue-lashing was about to begin.

Moses stopped only inches behind Jay, reaching over his shoulder to grab a few jelly beans from the bowl in front of him.

"Hey!" Jay cried, moving out of the way. "Have more respect for my personal space, you stupid bandit!"

Moses popped the jelly beans into his mouth, then turned and started to walk away, completely ignoring Jay.

"Excuse me!" Jay persisted. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!"

Still paying no heed, Moses continued to walk.

Jay gave up and turned to Shirley. "What's with him?" he asked, irritated.

Shirley shook her head. "I wish I knew."

Glancing across the room again, she watched as Norma, Grune, and Walter stood up and began to follow Moses. The four walked in a single-file line as the quietly left the bar. Stella entered the bar, passing them as she walked. She stopped a few feet behind Jay.

The bartender came to the counter, setting a soda beverage in front of Jay. "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you." Jay picked up the soda and began to walk away.

Stella watched Jay as he passed her, narrowing her eyes. Then returning her expression to normal, she stepped up to the counter, reaching for the jelly beans. Shirley absent-mindedly reached for the jelly beans as well, briefly making contact with Stella's hand.

A series of images suddenly flashed through Shirley's mind. The first was the spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light. Second was a horde of large slimy insects, and then the third was of Stella herself. Images of Norma, Grune, Moses, and Walter also flashed through her mind. Shirley jumped out of her seat, knocking the jelly beans to the floor in the process. Her heartbeat accelerated drastically as she felt her stomach sink. She pressed her hand over her mouth to hopefully avoid vomiting again.

"Shirley?"

The images stopped at the sound of Stella's voice. Her vision still distorted, Shirley stared at her in disbelief, then looked down at the jelly bean clasped between Stella's thumb and index finger. Shirley looked into Stella's eyes again. Stella's expression showed care and concern, much like the Stella that Shirley knew. But there was something behind Stella's expression...Shirley couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that the person standing in front of her was not the sister that she knew and loved.

"Are you all right?" Stella asked.

Shirley hesitated before responding, switching her glance from Stella's eyes to the jelly bean in her hand. Waiting for the sick feeling in her stomach to clear, Shirley finally replied, "No...I mean, yeah, I...I'm fine."

Stella looked down at the jelly beans scattered on the floor. She then gave Shirley a warm smile as she popped her jelly bean into her mouth and walked away. Her knees trembling, Shirley dropped on all fours and began to gather up the jelly beans.

After watching these events, Chloe finally rejoined Shirley, standing over her as she cleaned up the mess. "What's wrong, Shirley? You look a little shaky."

Shirley stood up, restoring the bowl of jelly beans to the counter. "Yeah...something's not right."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems like Moses has changed."

"Because he wouldn't take Jay's bait? Well, it's about time," Chloe said.

"But it seems so sudden."

"Like you throwing up this morning?"

Shirley was caught off guard. "I...I must be coming down with something."

Chloe nodded. "I wonder what it could be?"

"I don't know, but I just feel this big knot in my stomach. I barely touched Stella's hand just now, and I saw something."

"You saw something?"

"Something terrible."

"Maybe you're just going crazy?"

Shirley scoffed slightly. "I love you, too, Chloe..."

Chloe placed her hand on Shirley's forehead. "It feels like you're running a fever. A fever can cause people to have illusions sometimes."

"I..." Shirley looked away slightly. "I didn't know that..."

"Look, why don't you go home and get some rest?" Chloe suggested. "There's no need for you to exhaust yourself. We'll take care of anything that happens."

"Well...okay...I'll go home..." Shirley began to leave the bar, thinking to herself, _I just hope that Grune doesn't wake me up again._

--

Instead of heading home, Shirley went to the graveyard, knowing that Senel would be there. She found the Alliance Marine once again at Stella's grave, now filling it up with a shovel.

"Senel..."

Senel looked at her briefly. "Hey, Shirley."

"You're...filling up the grave?"

"Yeah...there's no reason to leave it empty like this. People could just fall in."

"I see..." Shirley looked down for a moment, and then looked up. "Senel, I need to talk to you...it's about Stella."

Senel stopped, giving her a suspicious look. "What about Stella?"

"Well..." Shirley paused, trying to think of how to put the words together. She knew that Senel would most likely get upset, plus there were so many pieces of the puzzle that still needed to be put together. "There's...really no easy way to say this..."

"Just tell me already," Senel pestered her. "What is it about Stella?"

"Well, she's..." Shirley felt a strange force within her, trying to restrain her words. Still, she managed to force the words out. "She's not the real Stella!"

"Whaddaya mean she's not the real Stella!?" Senel exploded.

"She's just not...she's not the Stella we know!"

Senel swung his arm out. "How can you talk like that!? If that's not the real Stella, then the real Stella would still be in her grave!"

"Senel..." Shirley tried to explain further, but could not find the words to do so.

"I know what it is!" Senel ranted. "You're just trying to pry us apart, aren't you!? You're just jealous of us! You always have been, haven't you!?"

Now Shirley exploded. "No!! This isn't about the past, Senel! This is about right now!"

"Oh, right now, huh? Do you have any idea how I felt when Stella died!? Do you know how I felt to see her alive again!? I will not lose her again!" Senel brought himself down, lowering his head. "Twice is enough..."

"But Senel, don't you see how wrong this is!?" Shirley insisted. "The real Stella is gone! There's no one more aware of that than you!"

Senel shook his head. "Shirley, stop it!"

"No! Senel, listen to me!"

"I don't want to hear it! Leave me alone!" Senel threw the shovel violently aside and stormed out of the graveyard.

Shirley felt the emotions building up rapidly within her. She couldn't tell if she was sad or angry, or if this was just an intense frustration that fully consumed her. But once again, she felt the physical effects; her knees became weak, and her stomach became nauseated again.

"Damn it!!" she screamed as she stumbled over to Stella's tombstone and sat on it. Then she threw her face into her hands and began to cry.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Shirley sat on Stella's tombstone, still crying after her argument with Senel. Although she had anticipated this kind of reaction from him, she still couldn't help but feel heartbroken. Additionally, she was thoroughly confused, as she had no idea what to do next.

"Shirley?"

Shirley perked up, seeing a young Ferines girl approaching her. "Thyra?"

"What's wrong?" Thyra asked. "Are you crying?"

Shirley wiped the tears away. "No...I'm okay. I'm just really confused right now."

"I see. Well...Maurits wanted me to ask you if you found anything regarding the spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light."

"No, we haven't found anything."

"I see..." Thyra paused now. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't help but feel curious. She could tell from the look on the Merines' face that something was seriously wrong. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"No, something is seriously wrong," Shirley told her. "Ever since we went to the Ruins of Frozen Light, some of my friends have been acting strangely."

"How so?"

"I don't know...they...they're just not themselves anymore! I don't know if the spacecraft had anything to do with it, but I can't believe this would be just a coincidence either."

"That does sound strange. So...what will you do?"

"I don't know!" Shirley teared up again. "That's the problem...but I know I can't just do nothing. Just moping around like this won't get me anywhere. I know I'm stronger than this. I tried to warn Senel and Chloe, but they just didn't believe me. In a way, I can't really blame them. It's a tough story to believe...I can hardly believe it myself."

"I believe you," Thyra said. "I may have hated you at first, but even then, I never thought of you as a liar."

"Thyra...thank you."

Thyra pondered for another moment. "You said that only some of your friends were acting strange...was Jay one of them?"

"No...I don't think so. Why?"

"One of the things that annoyed me about Jay is that he's always so blunt. He tells the naked truth, no matter how ugly. I'm sure he'll believe you."

Shirley paused now. "Yeah...you're right. Jay seemed suspicious himself. I need to talk to him!"

Now the Merines stood up. "Thank you, Thyra. You've helped me clear my mind."

Thyra smiled. "I'm glad I could help. I would do more, but I'd just get in the way, like I did when we went to Castle Rexalia."

"No, you didn't get in our way," Shirley told her. "You were a big help then, too."

Thyra blushed. "Th...thanks..."

"Well, I'd better get moving. See you later, Thyra!" Shirley quickly ran from the graveyard.

"Good luck...Merines."

--

After leaving the graveyard, Shirley headed to the inn, then went to the lower level, where the arena was located. She found Jay inside the cage, with a dragon defeated in front of him.

"And the winner is...Jay!" the announcer called. "Here's your prize of fifty thousand gald!"

"I don't need it," Jay spat as he stepped out of the cage.

"Jay!" Shirley approached him directly. "I need to talk to you...but it's going to sound crazy."

"Hmm...I assume this is related to the recent turn of events?" Jay asked.

"Yes..." Shirley looked around at all of the people in the room. "But I can't talk about it here. We need some privacy."

Jay's eyes widened. "Privacy?"

Grabbing Jay's wrist, Shirley began to drag him out of the arena.

"This had better not be another trap!" Jay protested, recalling the time when Shirley had dragged him to the Waterways only to be assaulted by Solon's ninjas.

Ignoring the protests, Shirley ran out of the city, still holding Jay's wrist. She ran into the duct, which transported them to the Oresoren village. From there, Shirley continued to run, dragging Jay through the village. When she reached Quppo's house, she ran inside, pulling Jay up the stairs into the bedroom. Then she finally released him, and Jay stumbled across the room, propping his hands on the wall to rebalance himself.

Shirley slammed the door and locked it, pausing to catch her breath.

Jay straightened himself, also breathing heavily. "Now what is it!?"

Shirley moved in front of him, still looking around nervously, as though someone were watching them. Then she turned back to Jay. "This morning at the bar, I accidentally touched Stella's hand...and I think I had a vision."

"A vision?"

"Yeah...these images just flashed through my mind."

Jay paused. "I recall having a similar experience before. But that's not important right now. Tell me what you saw."

"It's like Stella wasn't even a person...she was some other thing...maybe a thousand things," Shirley told him. "And somehow she's connected to Norma, Moses, Grune, and Walter."

Jay fell silent, pondering her words carefully.

"I don't know how those images got into my mind..." Shirley went on. "Maybe I'm just going crazy...but the way the others have been acting...it's just not normal."

"When we had that experience before, with images entering our minds, we later learned that it was Nerifes communicating with us," Jay told her. "So perhaps what you saw was a warning from Nerifes."

Shirley now pondered for a brief moment, but then lit up. "You're right! Why didn't I think of that!? Stella said that Nerifes brought her and Walter back. But if I talk to Nerifes myself, it'll tell me the truth."

"Have you talked to the others yet?"

"Well, I tried to tell Senel and Chloe, but they didn't believe me. Senel...he yelled at me."

Jay let out a frustrated sigh. "How about Will?"

"I haven't talked to him yet. Should I do that first?"

"No...you go ahead and consult with Nerifes. I'll continue my investigation and report my findings to Will. I have a feeling that we may have missed something at the Ruins of Frozen Light."

"Okay...thank you." Shirley began to leave, but stopped at the door. "And thank you for believing me."

"To be honest, I've been rather suspicious myself," Jay told her. "When Moses isn't being stupid as usual, you know something is wrong."

Shirley kept a laugh in. "Of course...you and Moses..."

"But the entire situation is so wrong, it's almost impossible not to be suspicious," Jay added. "Senel and Chloe can be real blockheads sometimes."

"Mmm..." Shirley paused again. Although she hated to think that way of Senel, she knew that Jay had a point. "Yeah...you're right. So...we'll meet at Will's house later?"

"Yes," Jay nodded. "And remember...watch your back."

Shirley nodded in response. "I will."

Jay paused for a moment after he left. He was sure that the group had looked everywhere when they visited the Ruins of Frozen Light. Maybe there were other areas that they couldn't reach. At least he knew who could reach them...

Jay left the room and went downstairs, where the three Oresoren were waiting.

"Quppo, I need you all to do me a big favor," he said.

"What's wrong, Jay?" Quppo asked. "You look even more serious than usual."

Jay shook his head. "I'm not sure myself. But some of the others have been acting a little strange lately."

"Jay, we'll do anything for you," Poppo said. "What can we do?"

"We weren't able to learn anything at the Ruins of Frozen Light," Jay explained. "But I'm almost certain that there's something there in that spacecraft. These recent events have to revolve around it. I'd like you all to search the Ruins of Frozen Light for us. With your small size, you should be able to reach places that we can't."

"Leave it to us," Poppo said. "Ors!"

Quppo added in a low voice, "No challenge is too great for the mighty Quppo."

Jay gave a small smile. "I'm counting on you all."

The room fell silent for a moment after the Oresoren left. Jay paused, beginning to wonder what they would find. Shaking off the thought, he sat down in the center of the floor and began to formulate some possible strategies.

--

The sun set over the horizon as night fell over Werites Beacon. Harriet returned home after a long stay at a friend's house.

"Dad, I'm home!" she called out.

She set her backpack down at the corner, stretching her arms out. She then realized that she heard no response from Will.

"Dad?" Harriet called once more.

When she still heard no response, she went over to the base of the stairs, where she heard a door slowly creak open above her. Harriet waited for her father to come out and greet her, but nothing happened.

"Dad!" Harriet called once again as she began to climb the stairs. "Are you up there?"

As she reached the top, she peeked into Will's bedroom, where she spotted Grune in the back, standing in front of the window. The lights were turned off, so Harriet could barely recognize Grune's silhouette figure.

"Grune? Is that you?"

Harriet flicked on the light switch, only to see Grune in the nude, except for her thin green veil.

"Ack!" Harriet quickly turned out the lights again. "You're...n-n-naked! What are you doing in here!?"

"Oh...Will and I were just having a chat," Grune replied sweetly.

Harriet glanced over at the bed, where Will lay, his head turned away from her. Although Will was in a natural sleeping position, Harriet had the feeling that he wasn't merely sleeping...

"You...and my dad??" Harriet asked in disbelief. "I don't buy it, no way!"

Grune moved to the side, letting the moonlight shine on her figure. It was only then that Harriet noticed the blood streaking down from Grune's mouth, all the way down her chest and abdomen.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Grune asked, her voice still innocent.

Still keeping her eyes on Grune, Harriet reached out, gently shaking Will's arm. "D...Dad...?"

Harriet only felt her heart beating faster as many questions flew through her mind. Had Will and Grune really screwed? And where did that blood come from?

"Dad??" Harriet now turned Will's head to face her, only to find more blood pouring from the corner of his mouth.

"Gaaaahhh!!" Harriet screamed as she staggered back from the bed. She looked at Grune, who was merely licking her lips like a wild animal after a satisfying meal. "What have you done?!"

Suddenly, something shoved her from behind, startling her. Harriet staggered over to the closet as Norma and Moses stepped into the room, joining Grune at the window.

"You...!!" Harriet reached into the closet, grabbing the nearest weapon she could find – a broomstick. "Get away from me, you...you freaks!"

Norma, Moses, and Grune merely stared at her blankly. Grune still licked her lips like a hungry animal. Norma stood hunched over, with her fists over her mouth, looking up with innocent eyes. Moses held one hand to his chest, snarling softly.

"I don't know what you did to my dad..." Harriet scolded, her voice trembling, "but you're gonna pay! You're gonna be arrested! You're gonna be executed, and it'll be OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!!"

Suddenly, Harriet felt a sharp blow to the back of her head. She didn't even get to react as she was knocked out cold on the spot.

Norma, Moses, and Grune looked up to see Stella standing in the doorway, exposing her elbow which had just struck Harriet. Stella then crouched down, picking the flower from the girl's hair.

"Oh, don't worry; I wouldn't hurt the poor child," she said as she rose, smelling the flower. "Good work."

Norma, Moses, and Grune only flashed a smile.

--

Meanwhile, Jay continued to sit at his house, analyzing the situation and writing everything down.

"So these events only began upon the discovery of the spacecraft," he told himself. "But the others seemed to be acting oddly even before we went to investigate...but only after Stella and Walter's appearance. Somehow, I have the feeling that Stella and Walter's sudden resurrection may be connected with that spacecraft."

Jay paused as a revelation hit him.

"Could it be possible that whatever was on that spacecraft may have the ability to control people from within? It would be a brilliant plan - control a few dead bodies, and then spread it out to the living."

Jay's heart jumped as the event of Norma kissing Grune came to mind. "Grune only began to act strangely after that kiss. Even during the kiss, it looked as though Grune were in pain...if only for a moment. That must be how they spread, through mouth-to-mouth contact."

Jay shook his head as the situation grew even more serious by the minute. "We still don't even know what we're dealing with. More importantly, we need to know how to restore the others to their normal selves..."

Suddenly, the front door flew open, and Stella stepped inside, holding a giant insect creature in her right hand. Jay perked up, startled. Stella hurled the insect creature into the room; Jay quickly rolled backwards to his feet. The insect straightened itself, waving its many legs, hissing softly. Jay stared the creature down, slowly reaching for the dagger in his pocket. Stella merely watched, a sinister smile crossing her face.

Jay pulled his dagger, and in the same single motion, flung it at the creature. It exploded upon impact, spraying its fluids everywhere.

Jay exhaled a sigh of relief, but his expression turned to horror all over again as a horde of smaller insects began to pour out from the larger insect's tail.

"Oh Nerifes..." Jay gasped as the insects crawled toward him at a rapid speed. Thinking quickly, Jay leaped over them, attempting to lunge at Stella. However, Stella quickly backed out, pulling the door shut as she did so. Jay crashed into the door, then tried to open it again, but to no avail as Stella held it shut.

"Damn you!" Jay shot another glance at the insects before dashing upstairs to the bedroom and slamming the door.

Seconds later, Jay felt something tingling on his leg, rapidly crawling up his body. Jay looked down; when he saw nothing, he realized that the bugs were crawling under his clothes! Panicking, Jay staggered around the room, trying to shake out the bug. However, it was futile as the insect emerged from Jay's collar, hooking its legs into his mouth and forcing itself in. Jay instantly began gagging and coughing out blood as the insect crawled deeper into his body. Finally, Jay fell to his knees and collapsed to the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The moon was shining over the deep blue sea, its glow reflecting from the top of the water. Shirley stood at the Altar of the Sea, praying to Nerifes.

"Nerifes...please hear me," she said. "I need to know the truth. What is happening to my friends? Why are Stella and Walter here after they've died? What can I do to make things right again?"

As a response, Shirley saw more images flashing through her mind. The image of the spacecraft flashed through her mind, and then a horde of insects crawling around within the Ruins of Frozen Light. Then the image of Stella and Walter appeared; their bodies were transparent, and an insect could be seen within. Shirley let out a gasp of horror.

"So that's it..." she mused. "That's why...I have to get back to town!"

She turned and quickly fled from the altar.

--

Back at Werites Beacon, Senel slept soundly in his bed. Unbeknownst to him, Moses was standing a few feet away, his face completely blank. The bandit opened his mouth wide, and a large gray insect began to crawl out. Moses began to lean towards Senel...

"Ahh!" Senel suddenly sprang forward in his bed. Moses quickly pulled back, shoving the insect back into his mouth.

Senel looked down at himself, sighing with relief. "Whew...I was dreaming that there was some weird insect crawling all over me." He then turned to see the red-haired bandit standing there. "Moses? What are you doing here? It's not even morning."

Moses looked away for a moment, either pondering something, or hearing something far away.

"Uh...we're all meetin' at Will's house," he finally responded.

"Now??" Senel asked in disbelief.

"There's somethin' big goin' on."

"All right, I'll be right there."

Moses ran downstairs, quickly leaving the house, while Senel dragged himself out of the bed.

"Damn...why now?" he grumbled.

--

In the hospital, Chloe woke to a knock on her door.

"Hmm? Now who could be knocking at this hour?" she wondered as she got up to answer the door.

"Well, hello, C!" Norma said in a low but cheerful voice.

Chloe blinked. "Norma?? What are you doing up so late?"

"I came to tell you that Teach wants us to meet at his house," Norma said.

"You mean right now? Why?"

"Oh...just some minor business."

"All right, I'm on my way," Chloe said. "By the way, it's good to see that you're feeling better."

Norma frowned. "What are you talking about, C? Come on!"

She quickly began to skip down the hallway.

"I'm coming," Chloe said as she followed. And then she thought, _If it's only minor business, why can't it wait until morning?_

--

Senel was the first to arrive at Will's house. He cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. "Hello...?"

Looking around, he found Will standing in the kitchen with his back turned. Senel sighed with relief as he went farther in. "Oh good, you're awake."

Will only turned around, his face expressionless.

"Um..." Senel began to grow uneasy. "You're wondering why I'm here, right? Well, Moses said that everyone was going to meet here..."

"Don't worry," Will said flatly. "The others are on their way."

"I see. So what's going on? Moses said it was something big. Did you find something about that spacecraft?"

"Hmm..."

Senel raised an eye. The response didn't seem like Will was pondering something...rather that he was hiding something. "Will?"

"I'll explain when the others get here," Will replied.

"All right...so we just have to wait for them."

Senel turned away, looking around the room nervously. He couldn't put a finger on it, but something just felt odd. Will's presence was somehow intimidating, as if he were angry. But Will's expression didn't show much anger, if any at all.

Senel felt the tension melt away when the door opened, and Walter stepped inside with Moses, Norma, Grune, and Chloe.

"Hey, I'm glad you guys came," Senel said. "I was starting to think that this was some joke."

Walter stepped in front of him. "You're under arrest, Senel."

"What? On what charge?" Senel asked.

Walter tilted his head. "Murder."

"What!? This...this is a joke, right? Will!" Senel turned around to face the natural historian, who only folded his arms with an icy glare.  
--

The Oresoren returned to Quppo's house to report the results of their investigation to Jay.

"Jay!" Quppo called. "We're back! Ors!"

"We found loads of information at the Ruins of Frozen Light!" Poppo added.

"You have to hear this, Jay!" Pippo called. "Come on down!"

From upstairs, they could hear the door squeak open slowly. Jay began to step down the stairs slowly and awkwardly, with uneven steps. As he reached the base and walked into the room, the Oresoren noticed the empty look on his face, as well as the blood trickling down his chin.

"Jay! Are you all right?" Poppo asked.

"Jay...?" Quppo called timidly.

Jay stopped in the center of the room, staring straight ahead. He seemed oblivious to the three otters calling out to him. He merely ran the back of his hand across his mouth slowly, wiping off the blood.

"Jay..." Quppo said softly.

"Jay..." Poppo whined.

Now all three otters cried out. "Jaaaayyy!"

Instead of paying heed to their cries, Jay began to move again, calmly leaving the house. The Oresoren exchanged confused and nervous glances.

"Jay looked scary..." Quppo said.

"He looked like the Jay from long ago," Poppo said.

"But...he looked different," Pippo pointed out. "He looked like he was sleepwalking...or like something was controlling him."

"Brothers...this can only mean one thing..." Quppo said.

The other two Oresoren gave him a look as they realized the same thing.

"We're too laaaaaaaate!! Ooooorrrrssss!!"

--

As Shirley returned to Werites Beacon, she headed straight for Will's house. There, she saw the party leaving the house. Will, Chloe, Norma, and Grune were in the lead. Walter and Moses were in the back, shoving Senel along in front of them. Shirley couldn't tell what was happening, but it looked like Senel was being moved against his will.

"Senel...what's happening?" Shirley asked.

"No talking to the prisoner!" Walter ordered.

"_Prisoner?"_ Shirley paused for a moment. Why was Senel being taken prisoner by his own comrades? None of this made any sense. _I have to tell Jay!_

Shirley sprinted over to the bridge that led out into the field. Luckily, Jay was already crossing the bridge to enter the city.

"Jay! Thank goodness you're here!" Shirley cried. "Senel's being arrested!"

Jay stared at her blankly for a moment, before widening his eyes. "That's...not good. We'd better see what's going on."

"You're right! We have to catch up with them!"

Shirley dashed back into the city to catch up with the party. Jay stood still for a moment, flashing a slight smile, before running to catch up.

The party entered Musette's empty house as Shirley caught up. The Merines stepped inside cautiously, waiting to see what was happening. Jay stepped up behind her silently.

"Harriet!?" Senel exclaimed. "You're telling me that Harriet was murdered!?"

"Don't try to play me for a fool, Senel," Will said coldly.

"But what makes you think I had anything to do with it!?"

Stella pulled out Harriet's blood-splattered flower, setting it down on the table. "I found this in your house."

Shirley gasped softly. _Harriet is...?_

"That's ridiculous!" Senel nearly screamed. "There's no way I could have killed Harriet! This whole thing is a setup!"

"Will..." Stella said, ignoring Senel's protests. "Since Harriet was your daughter, I think it's only fair for you to choose the sentence."

"Very well." Will stepped in front of Senel, pointing his index finger at him. "He shall die at dawn! For the murder of my daughter!"

"Will, no!!" Shirley cried.

"Will!!" Senel protested.

Chloe gasped softly, tightly clenching her fists.

"Lock him up, Walter," Stella said sternly.

"Yes, Mistress," Walter responded. "With pleasure."

Shirley looked confused. _"Mistress?"_

Now Chloe stepped in front of Senel, fighting tears. "I sorely misjudged you, Coolidge. I never imagined you'd be capable of something like this. You're despicable! Despicable to the end!!"

Before Senel could respond, Chloe fled from the house.

"Chloe..." Shirley whispered.

Walter grabbed Senel's shoulder and began to shove him along. Senel gave him an angry glare as he reluctantly walked.

"Get out of here, Shirley..." Senel whispered as he passed.

"Move it!" Walter gave him another rough shove.

"Walter..." Shirley tried to step in front of the Radiant man, but Walter only shoved her aside as he passed. Shirley let out a gasp. Although she knew that Walter had always been rude like that, he had never shown such rudeness to her before.

Once Walter was gone, Shirley turned to the others and noticed something else strange. The coloring on Norma, Moses, and Grune's skin had changed to a slight gray color. Behind Shirley, Jay lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"Guys...what's happened to you all?" Shirley asked.

No one said a word. They all stared at her blankly. Jay lifted his head again, flashing a slight smile behind her.

"Someone, please answer me!" Shirley cried desperately.

Suddenly, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, slowly turning her around. As soon as she faced Jay, he unsheathed his dagger, holding it right in front of her face.

Shirley's eyes widened in horror. "Jay...not you, too!!"

Jay only gave her an empty stare.

"You know what to do, Jay," Stella said calmly.

Jay batted an eye at her before focusing his attention on Shirley again. "Yes, Mistress."

Shirley's body trembled as Jay began to force her out of the house. Stella and the group simply stood with no expressions at all.

--

As soon as Senel was thrown in the jail cell below Will's house, he heard the cell locking.

"Hmph!" Walter scoffed as he left.

"Hey! Get back here!" Senel crashed into the bars, reaching in between, but accomplished nothing. "Dammit! Why is this happening!? How could they do this to me!?"

He began to pound on the door, focusing on the lock. But he soon gave up from exhaustion, as his fist was beginning to hurt. Senel leaned against the back wall to catch his breath.

About a moment later, he heard footsteps approaching. Senel perked up, moving to the cell door again. Chloe came downstairs and stood in front of him.

"What do you want, Chloe!?" Senel snapped. "Did you come to berate me about murdering Harriet!?"

Chloe's eyes widened. "N...no! I just...I've been thinking things over. I was angry to think that you would have murdered Harriet. But then I remembered...I know you better than that. You would never do something like that."

"Exactly! So let me out of here! Come on!" Senel began to shake the bars.

Chloe lowered her head for a moment, making no movements to open the cell.

"Come on, Chloe!" Senel prodded. "Let me out of here!"

"I...I can't..." Chloe finally said.

"Whaddaya mean you can't!?" Senel exploded. "It's not that hard! Just take the key, put it in the lock, and turn it!"

"You idiot!" Chloe snapped. "It's not like that! If I just let you out, they'll just throw you back in there, and they'll throw me in there with you! The only way to win your freedom is to prove your innocence."

"Well...you're right...but I can't prove my innocence while I'm stuck in here! So come on!"

"No...I'll do it. I'll prove your innocence."

Senel gave an exasperated sigh. "I hope you know where to begin, because I sure don't."

"I'm not sure myself...but Shirley..."

"Shirley? What about Shirley? Are you saying that she's behind all of this!?"

Chloe glared at him. "Of course not! You should know better than that, more than any of us!"

"Then what is it about Shirley!?"

Chloe lowered her head again. "Shirley seemed to know something. She seemed to know that something strange was happening. She tried to warn me that Sandor had changed...but I thought that he was merely learning to ignore Jay's insults."

Senel paused. "Now that you mention it, Shirley tried to warn me also. She tried to warn me about Stella..."

"And what did you do?"

"I...I yelled at her..."

Chloe glared at him again. "You _yelled_ at Shirley!?"

"Oh, stop it!" Senel told her. "We both ignored Shirley's warnings, so we're both guilty. We need to worry about what to do now."

"And what we need to do is talk to Shirley," Chloe agreed. "I'll find her, and I'll prove your innocence."

"All right..." Senel said. "But remember, you only have until sunrise before they kill me."

"Oh, that's right...we have very little time..." Chloe said. "But I'll do whatever it takes to get back before then. Wait for me, Coolidge."

"All right. I'm counting on you."

Chloe nodded before rushing up the stairs. Senel let out another sigh as he sat on the floor at the back wall.

"Chloe's helped me many times before...but this is the first time my life actually depended on her..."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The first place Chloe ran to was Musette's house. When she got to Shirley's bedroom, she knocked on the door.

"Shirley?"

Without even waiting for a response, Chloe opened the door and stepped inside, only to find the room completely empty.

_Of course, how can anyone sleep at a time like this?_ Chloe thought. _She's probably out looking for clues as well. And the best place to look would be Coolidge's house._

Chloe went to Senel's house, but it, too, was empty.

"Damn...where could she have gone?" she wondered.

Chloe went back out into the street, fresh out of ideas. All she could do now was call out.

"Shirley!!"

----------------

Jay moved silently behind the houses, forcefully leading Shirley by the arm. In a seemingly random location, he stopped, turning Shirley to face him, gripping his dagger in his other hand.

Shirley looked at him, studying his empty facial expression, while carefully watching the dagger in his hand. "Wh...why are you doing this, Jay?"

"I told you to watch your back," Jay said flatly.

"Shirley!!" Chloe's voice could be heard in the distance.

_Chloe?_ Shirley thought. If she could just find Chloe, she could be of some help. But Shirley had no idea where the voice was coming from.

Jay also looked up at the sound of the voice. Taking advantage of this distraction, Shirley turned on her heels and ran. Jay quickly composed himself and promptly gave chase.

Shirley quickly ran around to the front of a house and ran inside, slamming the door. She pressed herself against the door, waiting for Jay to start pounding. Strangely enough, nothing happened. Shirley waited for a moment, while pondering to herself.

_Whose house is this?_ Shirley wondered as she reached over, turning on the lights.

The living room was decorated with various small fragile figurines on the lightweight shelves. The brown sofa had a glass coffee table in front of it.

"Hello?" Shirley called out, hoping to warn the homeowner. "Is anyone home?"

No response. Shirley wasn't quite ready to let go of the door yet. Why wasn't Jay trying to break in? He didn't strike Shirley as one to give up so easily. But then again, Jay was a skilled ninja. There was the possibility that Jay had already gotten inside undetected. Shirley gasped at this thought.

Letting go of the door, Shirley stepped into the living room, haunted by the deafening silence.

"Jay...?" she called out softly.

When nothing happened, she quickly moved to the two bedrooms, checking them both. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Both bedrooms were completely empty. Shirley went back into the living room, wondering where the homeowners would be at this time of night.

Suddenly, Jay burst through the window glass, rolling deftly to his feet.

"Ahh!!" Shirley screamed, covering her face.

Jay lunged at her with his dagger; Shirley grabbed his arm, trying to keep it away from her. As they wrestled for a few seconds, Jay pulled his head back, striking Shirley's forehead with a powerful headbutt, knocking her to the floor. Raising his dagger, Jay tried to leap on top of her, but Shirley rolled out of the way and got to her feet. As Jay rolled onto his back, Shirley tried to pin him down with her foot. Jay crossed his arms, blocking her foot, then gave a hard kick to Shirley's stomach. He followed with another kick to her face as she doubled over, sending her backwards, crashing onto the glass coffee table, shattering it to pieces. Shirley picked herself up on all fours, the glass cutting instantly into her hands and knees. Thinking quickly, she grabbed one of the wooden legs as Jay hopped over the sofa, clubbing him in the ankle as he landed.

"Argh!" the assassin cried out as he fell to one knee.

Shirley made a swing to his head, but Jay ducked, planting both hands on the floor. He went into a handstand, his back facing Shirley, catching her head between his knees. As she tried to pry his legs off, Jay brought his feet back down, flipping the Merines over him, slamming her head-first into the ground.

"Oww...." Shirley cringed in agony as she crawled forward, her only objective to get away from the assassin. She reached forward, grabbing a fireplace poker from its rack, using it to pull herself to her feet again. She then tried to bring the poker down on the assassin, who was still on the floor. Jay caught the poker in his hand, throwing a hard kick to Shirley's stomach, sending her slamming into the figurine shelf behind her. Acting more on impulse than anything, Shirley grabbed the entire shelf, throwing it down on top of the assassin. Jay curled up into a fetal position, shielding himself from the debris.

Shirley fled into the kitchen, where she paused briefly. _What do I do? What do I do??_ she thought in a panic.

She didn't have time to think much further. She quickly spun around as Jay dashed into the kitchen, swinging his dagger at her mercilessly. Shirley ducked and dodged as she grabbed a skillet from the stove. She then faced the assassin, blocking his dagger with the skillet. Jay made another thrust; Shirley parried it, spinning in towards him, striking him across the face with the skillet. Jay cried out again as he dropped the dagger. Shirley quickly stepped on it and kicked it out into the living room.

Jay paused, glaring at her with an icy glare, breathing heavily. Shirley took the chance to catch her breath herself.

But the assassin wasn't done yet. He reached over, grabbing a steak knife from the counter and threw an overhead attack. Shirley blocked it with the skillet again, while grabbing Jay's arm and pulling it down.

"Jay, please stop!!" she cried desperately.

Ignoring her pleas, Jay gave her a fierce headbutt, and as she reeled backwards, he threw a hard kick to her stomach. Shirley staggered back, hitting the refrigerator and sinking to the floor.

Shirley looked up from the floor, while Jay merely stood, holding out his dagger towards her. Shirley studied his facial expression. Jay tilted his head slightly, almost as though he were having seconds thoughts about what he was doing.

_Jay...he's struggling inside, isn't he?_ Shirley wondered.

"Jay, I know you're in there..." she said carefully, hoping to encourage him. "You have to fight it...."

Now Jay turned his back, glancing down at the steak knife in his hand. Shirley carefully stood up, so as not to alert him.

"Jay...I can't stand to see you like this," she continued. "Please let me help you."

Jay turned his head slightly. "I don't need your _help_!"

With the last word, he turned and swung the knife at her. Shirley ducked and quickly moved past him. She ran through the living room, dashing through a door. Jay quickly pursued, managing to get into the doorway as Shirley tried to close it.

"Ah!" Shirley strained to close the door as Jay still tried to force his way in.

At that moment, Chloe entered the house, pausing as she saw Jay trying to force his way into the room. "Jay!" she called out sternly.

Jay pulled back, allowing Shirley to fully close the door, and then jammed the steak knife through the edge of the door and its frame. He then looked up at Chloe.

Shirley sank to the floor, leaning against the door, sobbing. "Jay....you were the only one who believed me...why did this have to happen?"

"What are you doing!?" Chloe demanded.

"Shirley....she doesn't want it, but I have to give her the gift," Jay responded.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's...the greatest gift that I've ever been bestowed with," Jay continued, gently resting his hand on his chest. "It's...filling me up....I can sort of feel myself floating away."

Chloe gave him an odd look. "Jay, you're not making any sense."

As if on cue, Will, Norma, and Moses entered the house behind Chloe.

"You'll understand when you wake up," Will said calmly.

Chloe turned her head slightly. "When I wake up?" she asked as the group surrounded her.

Hearing the voices, Shirley stood up, looking through the door's window. "Oh no....Chloe, run! They'll hurt you!"

"Wh...what's going on?" Chloe began to reach for her sword, but Will quickly grabbed her arm. She pulled her arm slightly, but Will's grip was strong and firm. _They're serious...._ she thought.

"Don't fight it," Will instructed.

Chloe glared at him. "That'll be the day...."

In a sudden movement, she threw her elbow back, striking Moses in the middle of his face. She then threw the same arm forward, punching Will in the face. Behind her, Norma grabbed a planter, nonchalantly smashing it into the back of Chloe's head, stunning her. As she reeled, Moses tackled her to the ground.

Shirley gasped in horror. _Oh no, Chloe...I have to help her!_

She tried to rush out to Chloe's aid, only to find that the door would not open. Shirley continued to jiggle at the doorknob, which turned just fine. But something was holding the door shut.

_Come on...why won't it open?_ she thought frantically.

Once Chloe was on the floor, Moses straddled her waist, while Jay moved in to restrain her arms. Norma crouched down low, carefully watching Chloe's facial expressions and cackling insanely, while Will watched the scene without any expression.

"Ahh! No!!" Chloe screamed as she kicked and struggled, but it was all in vain.

Moses leaned in, opening his mouth and pressing it down hard on hers. Chloe's eyes widened as she felt something crawling into her mouth like needles. It crawled down her throat and down her body.

Shirley continued to pound on the door until she realized it was too late. "No!! Chloe!!" she cried, sobbing, and realizing that she had never felt this helpless since Fenimore died.

Once finished, Moses and Jay released the knight and stood up slowly. Along with Will and Norma, they all looked down at the prone knight, whose body twitched as blood poured out from the corners of her lips.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Still in the jail cell, Senel sat on the bed, waiting for Chloe....or anyone for that matter, to return with news. By now, he surely realized that something was seriously wrong. The others were clearly not behaving rationally. Why would they pull a stunt like this? Senel just couldn't fathom the answer. And he certainly hated sitting here, unable to do anything.

Upon hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, Senel stood up and went to the bars. Grune came into the room, stopping directly in front of the cell with her sweet smile. Senel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Questions were flying through his mind, but he didn't know where to begin. And he did know that Grune probably wouldn't be able to answer any questions.

"Are you lonely, Senel?" Grune asked, tilting her head innocently.

"Grune....?" Senel shook his head. "Hell no! Just let me out of here! Please, Grune...."

Grune brought her hands together and barfed a black, slimy ball into her palms. She collected the ball into one hand, and reached through the cell bars. Senel quickly backed away.

"Wh...what are you...?" Senel gasped.

Reaching in as far as she could, Grune opened her hand, letting the slime ball drop to the floor. She pulled her arm out with another innocent smile.

"Bye now..." she waved as she calmly left the room.

"W-wait!!" Senel cried out. "Grune!!"

Suddenly, he felt the urge to look down at the slime at his feet. A dark gray insect sprawled out of it, hissing softly.

Senel jumped back. "What...what the hell is that!?"

Even more puzzling was that it had come out of Grune's mouth. What did that mean?

The bug began to crawl towards him. Senel lifted his foot, trying to stomp on it, but the bug quickly moved out of the way, and began to crawl up his leg.

"Ahh! Oh, you crazy bug, get off me!!" Senel screamed, shaking his whole body in an attempt to throw the bug off.

But the insect crawled up his back and onto his shoulder, reaching for his mouth...

------------

At the random house, Shirley still peered through the window of the room that she was trapped in. She watched as her comrades were still staring down at Chloe's prone body at the floor. She could see Will kneeling down, and then standing up again.

And then the group turned to face her.

Shirley's eyes widened. _Oh no...they're coming after me next! If Chloe couldn't fight them off, then what chance do I have?_

Will held his arm out to the side, holding Jay's dagger in his hand, while still staring at the door. Jay took the dagger from him and calmly walked up to the door. Pulling out the steak knife, he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Ahh!" Shirley lost her balance and fell on her rear, quickly crawling backwards to the opposite wall.

As Jay closed the door behind him and took a few steps forward, Shirley reached out for whatever she could grab. The first object she felt was a baseball bat, which she picked up, and then brought herself to her feet. She held the bat in her hands, trembling, ready to strike, but hoping that she wouldn't have to.

"Jay, please don't...." she begged. "Please...."

Jay merely held his index finger to his lips. "Shh...."

------------

Right outside the room, Will and Moses left the house. Norma plopped herself on the sofa, watching the door carefully, rocking back and forth on her knees while laughing maniacally. Unbeknownst to Norma, right next to the sofa, Chloe slowly crawled away, still trying to fight the creature in her body.

While rocking, Norma happened to look down where Chloe had lay, only to realize that she was no longer there. Stopping her laugh, she dropped to the floor on all fours, crawling along the trail of blood droplets in the carpet. The trail led to the kitchen, where Norma stopped at a pair of legs in front of her. Slowly, she looked up to see Chloe standing over her, with the skillet in her hand. Norma only stared up at her, her bottom jaw hanging open.

Chloe raised the skillet, whacking Norma in the head. The treasure hunter fell, knocked out cold from the strike. Chloe threw the skillet aside.

"Sorry, Norma...it's for your own good," she murmured.

A sharp pain jolted through her body, causing Chloe to scream out. "C....Coolidge...."

Clutching her stomach tightly, she began to stumble out of the house...

------------

As Jay continued to advance on Shirley, she had no choice. She raised the baseball bat, whacking him lightly on the side of his head. Jay staggered back a step, touching the blood that now trickled from his head, giving her a look as if to say, _How could you do that?_ As he stepped forward again, Shirley whacked the other side of his head. Again, Jay gave a similar reaction. He stepped forward yet again, and Shirley attempted to whack him even harder with the bat. But this time, Jay blocked the attack, pressing the bat horizontally across her chest, pinning her against the wall.

"Ah!" Shirley cried out as she tried to push him away, but found that she lacked the strength to do so.

While still pressing her against the wall, Jay pulled his head back, opening his mouth widely. He then leaned towards her as the gray insect began to reach out from his mouth. Shirley almost screamed, but realized that if she opened her mouth, the bug would surely get inside of her body. So she tightly closed her mouth, still trying to push the assassin away. Jay took a step forward with his left foot, pressing her even harder. Shirley looked down at his leg, which was now slightly bent. Just then, she remembered the self-defense move that Senel had been trying to teach her. She stepped up onto Jay's knee, and then kicked him in the head with her other foot. Jay staggered back before falling to the ground, and Shirley landed on her feet.

_I did it...._ Shirley thought as she breathed a sigh of relief. _I actually did it!_

She then snapped out of her excitement as Jay was still prone on his back, with the insect jutting from his mouth, flailing its legs about.

"Get away from him!!" Shirley cried as she pulled the bug from his mouth and threw it across the room, splattering it against the wall.

Jay looked up with a dull expression now. Shirley knelt down beside him, placing her hands on his face.

"Jay? Are you okay?" she asked.

She held out a hand for him, and Jay took it, standing up with her help.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Jay replied.

Suddenly, he thrust his arm forward, punching Shirley squarely in the face. She staggered backwards a few steps, recovering just in time to block his next kick. Jay brought out his knife and attempted an overhead stroke. Shirley grabbed his arms, and swung him around behind her, sending him crashing into the closet. Before he could recover, Shirley quickly slammed the closet doors shut, locking it with the padlock. Almost instantly, Jay began to pound on the doors.

"Open the damn door!!" he screamed.

Shirley staggered back, startled by his sudden rage. Terrified, she quickly fled from the room and out of the house. As she ran out into the street, she dropped to her knees, sobbing again.

"I can't believe this is happening!" she lamented once more. "But I....I can't give up! There has to be a way to save them! There just has to be! But first....Senel!"

Pulling herself together, Shirley stood up and began running down the street again.

----------------

In the jail cell, Senel grabbed the body of the insect as it was trying to force its way into his mouth.

"Mmmph!!" he let out a muffled scream as he felt the sharp legs nicking the inside of his mouth. He pulled his head back, and then threw his upper body downward, forcefully expelling the bug from his mouth. The bug hit the ground, stunned for a moment, and then picked itself up. Senel spit out blood from his mouth, then quickly moved to the corner of the cell, clamping his hands over his mouth.

"Demon Fang!!"

Senel looked out as a shockwave raced through the bars, slicing through the insect, killing it. Chloe was right outside the cell, dropping her sword immediately upon executing her attack. She slumped forward, grabbing the cell bars for support. Senel went over to her, studying her carefully. Her entire body trembled, and she had streaks of blood from the corners of her mouth.

"Chloe! What the hell is going on!?" Senel demanded.

Chloe pointed at the dead bug. "That bug...is inside...."

"What? Whaddaya mean 'inside?' Inside where?"

"It's...inside me...." Chloe gasped. "Taking....control...."

Senel paused for a moment as the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. "Grune was the one who....released that bug on me. And it tried to get inside me...."

"It got inside me..." Chloe continued. "It was Sandor who did it. Sandor....Jay....Norma....Raynard....they're all...."

"Did you find Shirley?" Senel asked.

"Ah...no....I didn't find her...."

"Dammit..."

"Argh!!" Chloe suddenly hunched over, spitting out blood and vomit. She fell to her knees, clinging to the bars and gasping for breath. "Coolidge....I....I can't...."

"Can't what??" Senel asked. "Chloe, what's happening?? Talk to me!"

Chloe reached down, grabbing her sword on the floor. "No....I won't....let you...."

"Huh??" Senel tried to comprehend what was going on inside Chloe's body, but knew that he was failing miserably.

Chloe picked up the blade, sticking the end into the ground for a moment, gripping the hilt with both hands, leaning on it for support. Then she picked up the blade, putting it to her left hip.

Senel's heart jumped as he realized what she was about to do. "Chloe, no!!"

Chloe began to bury the blade into her hip, drawing out blood. She let out a piercing scream as more blood poured out from her mouth.

Senel tried to reach through the bars to stop her, but she was out of reach. "Chloe, stop this!!" he cried desperately.

Once the wound was at a decent size, Chloe dropped the blade again. She looked up blankly for a moment before falling face-first to the floor.

"Chloe!!" Senel crouched down low, looking at her carefully, wondering if she was still alive. He then paused to think about the recent events. Stella and Walter were back from the dead, and shortly after, his own comrades began to behave strangely. Despite Shirley's warnings, he had still been in pure denial. "I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I see this coming? None of this would have happened if...."

He immediately stopped himself. The first thing he needed to do was get some medical attention for Chloe. "Hey!! Somebody get down here!!" he screamed, pounding on the cell doors, despite knowing how futile it was.

But sure enough, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Senel!!" Shirley cried as she came down into the room, holding a set of keys. She immediately stopped with a gasp of horror upon spotting Chloe's bloody body on the floor.

"Shirley! Can you heal her??" Senel asked.

"Um....yeah..." Shirley replied, timid about the bugs in Chloe's body. "Here!"

She handed Senel the keys, and then knelt down beside Chloe, casting her healing eres. Senel quickly unlocked the cell and moved beside Shirley. While Shirley was healing, she spotted something crawling out of Chloe's wound. Both Shirley and Senel jumped back upon seeing this. It was a large white caterpiller-like bug, crawling out from Chloe's hip.

"Ugh, that is disgusting!" Senel cried out. "Chloe...."

"I've....I've healed her wounds....so she should be okay...." Shirley stammered, almost gagging. "Right now, we have to get to the Ruins of Frozen Light."

"Huh? Why there?"

"Because that's where all of this is coming from. Just think about it! The spacecraft, Stella and Walter coming back, and then everyone acting strange! You don't really think that was just a coincidence, do you??"

"Well....I...." Senel muttered.

"Let's go!" Shirley reached down, picking up Chloe's sword.

"Wait! Do you even know how to use that sword?" Senel asked.

Shirley looked down at the sword, which felt heavy in her hands. "No...but I have to try." She ran up the stairs, and then out of the house. Senel gave Chloe one more look before following.

As soon as they got out into the street, they heard voices calling out to them. "Senel!"

Senel and Shirley paused, and then spotted the Oresoren running up to them, catching their breath.

"Quppo! What are you all doing here?" Senel asked.

"Looking for you," Quppo said. "We found something at the Ruins of Frozen Light. The aliens from the spacecraft are going into people's bodies and controlling them!"

"They even got Jay!" Poppo added. "Ors!"

"I told you!" Shirley smirked at Senel.

"We looked everywhere for you!" Pippo said. "We're glad that you two are all right. Ors..."

"But how do we stop all of this?" Senel asked. "How do we get these things out of their bodies??"

"We found that if you destroy the leader, the creatures without hosts will die," Quppo said. "But for the people who are possessed....we couldn't find a way."

"But there has to be a way!" Shirley protested. "We can't just leave them like this!"

"We'll keep looking; ors..." Quppo said.

"And we'll destroy the leader," Shirley added. "And the one who's leading them is....Stella."

"Stella!? You mean we have to kill Stella!?" Senel cried. "But I just....there's no way I could do that!"

Shirley looked at him. "Senel!"

"What? Are you really okay with this!? Fighting Stella!? And fighting the others!?"

"If that's what it takes to save them, then I will! And do you want to know why!?"

"Why!?"

Shirley closed her eyes, saying calmly, "Because you all did the same for me. When I lost myself....when I was taken by Nerifes....you were all going to fight me in order to save me. So....I'm going to return the favor."

Senel paused in confusion. "But Stella....I just....I can't do it."

Shirley let out a sigh. "Okay. That's fine, I understand. After all, you loved Stella, so how can you possibly bring yourself to kill her?"

Senel raised an eye. "Shirley, what are you....?"

"However..." Shirley continued. "Stella is my sister, and I won't let those things desecrate her body any further! So I'm going to the Ruins of Frozen Light to stop her! And if that means I have to go alone, THAT SUITS ME JUST FINE!!"

She turned and ran down the street towards the bridge that led out into the field.

"Wait! Shirley!" Senel called after her.

"Oh no! We've got to go after her!" Pippo called.

"Dammit!" Senel took off, running after Shirley. Pippo and Poppo began to follow, but Quppo stopped them.

"Wait, my brothers," he said. "We have a different mission. We must save the others, and there's only one man who can help us."

"Alcott!" they all called in unison.

They turned and headed for the hospital.

--------------

Senel emerged from the duct at the Ruins of Frozen Light to catch up with Shirley, who was now standing at the entrance.

"Shirley!" Senel quickly ran to her, then stopped to catch his breath.

Shirley gave him a glance, then looked into the ruins again.

Senel straightened himself. "Look, I know you're really pissed off right now, and for very good reason. But just hear me out."

Shirley gave no response.

"Listen, I still don't quite understand what's going on," Senel continued. "But I do know that I want to put an end to it as badly as you do. And I won't let you do this alone. Also...."

Shirley turned to face him now. "Hmm?"

Senel continued again, his voice strained. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I was just out of my head, thinking that Stella and I could be together again. But...it was just a dumb dream. We lost Stella long ago, but it's not too late for the others. Let's save them before we lose them for good."

He held his hand out for Shirley, who looked away for a moment. She let out a sigh before facing him again, taking his hand.

"Okay," she replied.

With that, the pair began to enter the Ruins of Frozen Light.


End file.
